IDDRR
DRC: Investing in children’s resilience
Green Academy equips children in North Kivu with anticipatory knowledge, early action skills, and environmental awareness, fostering safer schools, resilient communities, and a generation prepared to face climate and disaster risks.
ORGANISATION
Most Inclusive Connect
LOCATION
City of Goma and Nyiragongo Territory, North Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo
The challenge: children at risk from disasters
In North Kivu, children and young people are exposed to recurring natural hazards and climate change impacts. Schools and communities often lack the knowledge and capacity to anticipate disasters, leaving children vulnerable to injury, displacement, and loss of education.
The project: educating children on anticipatory actions
The Green Academy initiative engages children and young people in schools to understand disaster risks and how to act before hazards strike. Key interventions include:
- Establishing 10 school clubs in secondary schools to introduce students to disaster risk reduction actions
- Conducting 8 workshops in Goma, training 150 children on anticipatory actions, with support from Save the Children
- Reaching over 3,000 children and young people to raise awareness of disaster risks and resilience strategies
Impact: safer, more resilient children and schools
- Improved preparedness: Children learn early warning procedures and anticipatory actions, reducing vulnerability to disasters
- Stronger education system: Schools become better prepared to withstand climate and disaster impacts
- Environmental awareness and participation: Students gain knowledge about ecological solutions and become active participants in disaster and climate resilience
Next steps: scaling anticipatory activities (2025–2026)
- Child-friendly resilience clubs: Expanding school clubs focused on climate, early warning, and preparedness
- Green holiday camps: Introducing children to ecological solutions such as urban agriculture, reforestation, and recycling
- Inclusive participation: Integrating children with disabilities into disaster risk prevention activities
- Teacher capacity building: Training educators on inclusive, disaster risk-sensitive teaching methods and climate change adaptation
Why it matters for disaster risk reduction finance
Investing in children’s resilience today reduces future human and financial losses from disasters. By embedding disaster risk education into schools and creating youth-led action clubs, the Green Academy empowers the next generation to anticipate hazards, respond effectively, and strengthen the resilience of both communities and education systems.
This International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction, GNDR calls for governments, donors, the private sector and financial institutions to prioritise funding for resilience, not just funding for disasters when they strike.
All photos: Most Inclusive Connect